Death Of The Electric Guitar (and Bass?)

Hector

Hector

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An interesting article below on the decline of Electric Guitar sales. Some other searches show Bass sales are also down.

Link:
 
I always wondered that there is still a market for all that new equipment. Seems logical that at a point the total mass of gear will reach a saturation of the market. Still I think there is no risk that guitars or basses will disappear.
 
It's more death to the heyday of the electric guitar and bass which has been on somewhat of a decline since the 80's. These days with electronic keyboards, sequencers, samplers and such, along with a decline in culture, have contributed to the demise. Besides, it takes talent and a lot of work, to become proficient with an musical instrument.

So really, it's a bit of a reflection of the demise of culture in general as evidenced in the low quality in the content of all facets of the entertainment industry including film, music, and books.

Not that I'm biased or anything.
 
Yes, that's right. It's a trend even in our area to switch the evening entertainment from band gigs to DJ music. Hard to fight that.
 
So you do have composition versus entertainment-- people aren't as impressed by someone slinging an electric guitar or bass as they used to be. Indeed, back in the 70's they had prop as well as musical value to big acts at the time, as evidenced by some singers who would sling a tele or similar, though they may not play six notes in a night.
 
Musical composition is down-- I suspect that some contemporary pop musics are written by computer algorithms that have no need of instrumental breaks or finesse. Just put it in a DAW blender, compress the hell out of it-- and turn it REALLY LOUD!
 
Our band name basically comes from "Sondereinsatz in Krisengebieten", means we go out there to fight for Rock'n'Roll!!!
 
I believe a fair amount of blame goes to musical industry which in its greed brought about overexposure of highly successful acts (what an awful term, yes?) and grooming made up bands to imitate them. Gone (in today's music) is the mystique that drew me to the electric guitar and bass in the first place.
 
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But there is still a mystery and mystique untapped--it just might not receive the great acclaim and adulation of the late-60's and 70's. It's like the brush, acrylic, oils, and canvass--the guitar and bass will still be used for the particular sound that other instruments may not achieve. They may also be the media through which artists best create
 
Real good rock music let's the ground shake. Now and in 100 years too. Give the crowd a good party and they will come again.
 
Interesting. My niece is attending music college on scholarship (she plays sax) and when she comes home, all she does is go to basement and underground shows with all the kids playing real instruments. There are still tons of people out there who believe in real musicianship, and knowing what's it is like to create music with an instrument and not a program. These kids range from guys home from big prestige music colleges to those who have just taught themselves. It is inspiring to me.
 
I've noticed locally that there has been an explosion in younger people playing instruments of all kinds, including traditional string instruments, brass and also guitars. The local "guitar scene" is taking off more than in the past 10 years.

Personally, I think the Rap / Britney Spears / Facebook generation are now in the work force (ie: no longer children with time to spare) and the next generation isn't following them down the same path, ie: this newer generation is learning how to play an actual instrument..
 
One thing I believe has changed is the amount of gear per musician. For the better part of my time playing music I had one guitar. Now I have 7 guitars and 4 basses. I could do with one of each, and no matter which one I would choose I would probably live happily with either one of them. Why, then? Probably because I can and for fun, and I don't NEED to sell off gear to afford another guitar or bass. And I am not really a collector. That kind of behaviour - also according to my observation - is part of the background for the high sales numbers that is/has been and has nothing to do with measuring the health of music.

Stringed instruments are not dying but peoples relation to music might have changed. One example of such change is that much music has become less political, more "living room clean" and more entertaining. Guitar/bass heros do exist (a few have been mentioned) but compared to the past we have many other gods (e.g. web bloggers and ourself on facebook). So the amount of people who choose music as a lifestyle might be decaying.

When I listen to much of what people (of any age) put on youtube or elsewhere I often find a high degree of technical skillfulness and a low degree of personal expression. And if the relation is inverse they get negative comments.
 
"When I listen to much of what people (of any age) put on youtube or elsewhere I often find a high degree of technical skillfulness and a low degree of personal expression. And if the relation is inverse they get negative comments."

Agreed- also in independent sci-fi short films/animations


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Oh, our current "hit" is about an amok run. But since I'm involved in politics I stay away from political lyrics. Yes I'm guilty: we just want to enjoy. Still we play powerful Rock. People can "follow" us for maybe 90 minutes, then they are "worn out".

In the end we are a part of the problem OR the solution, dunno. Nobody of us band members is a true full time/full life musician. We play gigs like rockers, back in the office I'm a tax consultant. Maybe we disturb the ways of those who live from and for music all their lifes. Maybe we hold up the flag in hard times. All these thoughts will not change one fact: I will play bass for the rest of my life. With the will to improve, but always for fun!
 
For me one aspect is about creativity and the idea behind a work, whether it be music, a painting or a book. But then there’s this twilight realm beyond reality, glimpses into which from my early childhood and on, have resonated with various works of art.


Edgar Allan Poe said it so well in his musings—

For my own part, I have never had a thought which I could not set down in words with even more distinctness than that which I conceived it. There is however a class of fancies of exquisite delicacy, which are not thoughts, and to which as yet I have found it absolutely impossible to adapt to language.

These fancies arise in the soul, alas how rarely. Only at epochs of most intense tranquility-- when the bodily and mental health are in perfection, and at those mere points in time where the confines of the waking world blend with the world of dreams.
And so I captured this fancy, where all that we see or seem, is but a dream, within a dream.



Shadows of shadows passing…

It is now 1831 and, as always, I am absorbed with a delicate thought—it is how poetry has indefinite sensations, to which end, music is an essential, since the comprehension of sweet sound is our most indefinite conception.
Music, when combined with a pleasurable idea, is poetry. Music without the idea is simply music.

Without music, or an intriguing idea, color becomes pallor, man becomes carcass, home becomes catacomb, and the dead are, but for a moment, motionless…


This first passage can be heard as a prologue to “A Dream Within a Dream” from the Tales of Mystery and Imagination album by The Alan Parsons Project.
The second is features as a prologue to “The Fall of the House of Usher” from the same album.
 
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